Apparatus for cutting blanks



W. 1. KENT.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING BLANKS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 1o. |918.

Patented Mr. 2,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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' Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I(-)rigf'inal application filed October 11,1917, Serial No. 195,880.Divided 10, 1918.` Serial No. 211,270.

borough of Brooklyn,

UNITED STATES: PATENT OFFICE.-

` WILLIAM J. KENT, OF BROOKLYN, NEWYORK, ,ASSIGNR TO REVERE RUBBERCOMPANY, .A CORPORATION 0F .APPARATUS FOR CUTTING BLANIIS.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it knowntliat I, WILLIAM J. KENT, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of New York, State of New York, new and usefulApwhich the county of Kings, and have invented certain paratus forCutting Blanks, of following is a full, clear, tion.

This invention relates to blank cutting apparatus, and more particularlyto apparatus primarily adapted for cutting sheets of vulcanizablematerial'into blanks, such, for example, as heel blanks. Heretofore inpreparing rubber heel blanks it has been customary to cut themsubstantially from a sheet of suitable material. The waste entailed bythis method is large as it is necessary to leave intervening portions ofmaterial between each blank of sufficient area to withstand the diepressure without distortion of the sheet in the vicinity of the die, andalso since the curved sides of the die prevent the various incisionsfrom being even approximately adjacent throughout. l,

An object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide -anapparatus adapted to automatically cut a. sheet of vulcanizable plasticmaterialv into 'blanks in such a manner that the wastage of materialheretofore encountered will be obviated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism forautomatically gaging the quantity of material fed beneath the die priorto each cutting stroke and for alining the material in position beneaththe die.

A further object of my invention is to provide a gang die adapted to cuta series of blanks at a single operationwithout wastage of material. p

Ctlier objects of my invention will hereinafter appear.

This application is a division of my copending application,` ySerial No.195,880, filed October 11, 1917.

In the accompanying drawings wherein one of the various possibleembodiments of the invention is shown:

Figure l represents a front elevation of my improved blank cuttingapparatus, a sheet of material in the process of cutting being shown.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, certainparts being omitted Specification o'f-Letters Patent.

and exact descrip- D-shape,

RHODE ISLAND and this application filed January to disclose more clearlythe automatic gaging and alining mechanism..

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the gang die employed in connection withthe apparatus shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional View of the gang die, taken on the line-4 4of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan View ofthe stripper. employed for ejecting theblanks from the die.

Fig. 6 is an end View of the stripper shown in Fig. 5. i

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a sheet lof rubber which has been cut intoblanks b y my apparatus.

For the purpose of giving a clear understanding of myv invention, Ishall describe the same in` connection ture of rubber heels, understoodthat my apparatus may be employed for preparing blanks of any desiredcharacter. In cutting the blanks I employ i Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

with the manufacalthough it is to be sisting of substantially parallelstraight incisions, the other of curved'incisions, each of the curvedincisions being so disposed that its extremities meet the extremities oftwo parallel incisions. Thus, by a single cutting operation ofthe die,three-sides of a series of heel blanks extending substantially from edgeto edge of the sheet of material are cut. Upon making the firstincisions the sheet is advanced until theV extremities of the allelincisions opposite to those joined by the-curved incisions are'lin aposition to be parjoined by curved incisions identical to the firstmentioned curved incisions, when the die is again lowered. In otherwords, the die cuts one curved and two parallel sides of each blank atthe first operation and the fourth side Voi" the incision made by thesame curved portion of the die which made the first curved incision.Each of the blanks, A, so cut is a counterpart of the others and has twoparallel sides joined Iby two correspondingly curved ones. 'i sions isshown in Fig. 7 in which 1 indicates the curved incisions and 2indicates the straight parallel ones. The cutting operations of the dielare continued until the entire sheet has been cut into identicalblanks. From the foregoing it will be seen that I am the blanks iscompleted by ployed in cutting enabled to cut the entire sheet intoblanks without wastage of material.

The apparatus which is` preferablyeml which are mounted a series ofspacing -blocks 17 secured to the base by screwsv 18. Sup? ortedbetweenthe spacing blocks is a series of thin substantially straightcutting members 19 placed in parallel relation to one another andadapted to provide the parallel incisions 2 in the sheet of material.These cutting members are equally spaced from one another `and extendfrom side to side of the chase. Their extremities at one side of thechase are joined by another cutting lmenriber 2() formed with a seriesof curves,

each curve passing from one of the straight cutting members t0 Thisvcurved cutting member serves to make the curved incisions 1 in theysheet of material.

The parallel cutting members 19 are held in place in the chase by dowelpins 2.1 carried by the spacing-blocks 17. These pins pass throughsuitable openings in the cutting membersv 19 and enter recesses providedin the blocks. Interposed between the extreme cutting members and `theends of ngers 27. l

the chase are spacing-plates 22, each. of

which is 'provided withdowel pins 21 ladapted to pass through-theadjacent cutting member land enter suitable recesses formed in theadjacent spacing block.

.As an additional means of securing the cutting members 19 and 2O inplace set screws are provided. Two 'of these screws 23 are arranged ateach end of the chase and when tightened operate to force thespacingblocks 17 and plates 22 into clamping enagement with4 he parallelcutting memers 19. lA series of the screws 23 is also arranged at oneside of the chase, one screw* being provided .for each of the spacingblocks. These screws operate when tightened to force the spacing blocksforward so as to clamp the curved cutting member 20 firmly against theadjacent wall of the chase cavity.

In order to eject the heel-blanks from the die after they are cut astripper 24 supported by a bracket 25 attached to the press is provided.This stripper comprises a rectangular-metal plate formed at one sidewith a series of parallel slits 26 and a series of The slits 26 areshaped t0 permit the passage. of the parallel cutting members 19 of thethe blanks comprises la y'press having a frame 8 :and a shaft 9 whichthe next adjacent one.

y 34 of a bell crank'lever pivotedA die therethrough, while the fingeis27 are adapted to lie within the blank cavity when the die is loweredandV r the apparatusherein described.

the blanks it' is highly desir- In cuttingv able that each one be madean exact counter- ,part ofthe others softhat when they are inoldedandvulcanized a. uniform product will be obtained. To achieve. this resultan automatic mechanism is provided adapted to gage the amount ofmaterial fed beneath the die prior to each cutting stroke, to

aline the material inl position beneath the die,.and to hold it securelyagainst Inove-A inentduring the cutting stroke.

This mechanism comprises a shaft'28 extending transversely ac'ross thebedof the l' press rearwardly of the die-and mounted for oscillatorymovement in suitable supports 29 securedto the press in a manner to behereinafter set forth.y Carried by the shaft is a series of `dogs 30which are raised and lowered at each oscillation thereof.v When the dogsare lowered -their claws 31 engage 'the front edge-of the adjacentseries of blanks thereby holding the material being fed to the dieagainst movement. When the dogs arev raised the claws 31 areV disposedin a 'position permitting the cut blanks to `pass thereunder andconsequently the sheet of material to be fed beneath the die.v Theoperation of the dogs is so regulated that i .they will bein theirlowered position during each cutting stroke of the press and in theirraised positionv a lsufficient interval of time tio. permit the passagethereunder of one series of cut blanks. The amount of material fedbeneath the .die prior to each cutting stroke will thus be regulated tothat required for the production of one series of blanks. also serve t0aline the material in position beneath the die and4 to 'hold' it'againstdisplacement during the cutting stroke thereof. Oscillatory movement isimparted to the dog shaft 28 bythe main shaft 9 of the press by meansofthe following train of mechanism; attached to one end of the dog shaftis an arm'32, to the lower end of whicli-is iid It is tobe noted thatthe dogs i pivoted one end of a rod 33. Theother end of the rod 33 ispivoted to one arm 35 to the press. The other arml 36 of the lever ispivoted to one end of a rod 37 twisted at right angles intermediate itslength. The opposite end of the rod 37 is pivoted to 'one arm 37 of abell crank lever pivoted at 38 to the 'frame of the press. The other armAthe production In order to provide for cutting blanks of variouslengths and thicknesses theengaging and alining mechanism is madeadjustable. To this end a series of `bolt holes 44 arranged insubstantially the same horizontal plane is provided for the retainingbolt 45 of each of the dog shaft supports 29. These holes are adapted toselectively receive the retaining bolts thus permitting thesupports torbe moved toward or from the die to adjust the position of the dog shaftin accordance with the length of the blanks it is desired to cut. T'oprovide for adjusting the driving mechanism in accordance with thevarious adjustments of the dog shaft the rod 33 thereof is constructedof two members. bolted together end to end in a manner permitting thelength of the rod to be varied as desired. One of the members of the rodis provided with a slot 46 which receives the bolt 47 secured t0 theother member. Provisionis also made for adjusting the dog shaft bodilyin a vertical direction to adapt it for use with blanks of variousthicknesses. To this end its su-pports 29 are each provided with Ia slot4 8 adapted to receive the retaining bolt 45.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows, it being understood thatthe dogs are raised andv lowered in ing and lowering of thedie: A sheetof material 49 to lbe cut into blanks is fed-be-f neath the die asufficient distance so that at the first cutting stroke the die will cutthe curved portions 50 (see Fig. 7) away from the sheet, thus formingone of the From curved sides of a series of blanks. this point onwardthe sheet is fed b eneath the die prior to each cutting'stroke, adistance corresponding to the length of the blanks it is desired to cut.series of blanks have been cut and the material is advanced preparatoryto cutting a third series the forward edge ofthe first series willcontact with ,the claws 31 of the dogs upon the insertion beneath thedie of the exact amount of material required for of the third series.After the third series' has been cut the dogs will be raised for asuiicient interval of time to permit the first series to be advancedbeyond the claws 31; whereupon the dogs The mechanism delower the dogs30 in what means disposed to the rear unison with the rais.-

When two will be lowered to terial being fed to the die to that requiredfor the production of a` fourth series of blanks. The operations setforth are continued until the entire sheet has been cut into blanks. Itis evident from the fore-- going'that the amount of material fed.beneath the die prior to each cutting stroke limit the amount -of mawill be accurately limited to that required for the production of oneseries of blanks. When the blanks have passed beyond the claws 31 of thedogs they fall into a receptacle 51 provided for their collection.

of the pre- While I have .described one ferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that various modifications may beresorted to within `the scope of the` Iappended claims without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having' thus described my invention,

I desire` to protect by Letters' Patent is: 1

` 1. In an apparatus of the kind described in combination, a chase,a'gan Cdie inclosed thereby comprising a series of stantially straightcutting edges, the series extending from side to side .of the chase, acontinuous cutting edge provided with a series of curves each curvepassing from one of the straight cutting edges to the next adjacent one,a plurality offbjlicks adapted to space the straight cutting edges fromone another, and screws mounted" on the chase adapted to clamp thesaidcutting edges in position.

2. In an apparatus of thekind described in combination, a bed to supportmaterial to be out and blanks out therefrom, a cutting die, means forreciprocating said die, and of said die, said means being adapted toautomatically oscillate in synchronism withy the reciprocation of saiddie to intermittingly intercept the progress of blanks along said bed,whereby the amount of material fed beneath Ithedie prior to each cuttingstroke is limited to a uniform quantity.

3. In an apparatus of the kind described in combination a die adaptedtocut blanks from a sheet of material, means for reciprocating said die,means disposed to the rear of said die,said means being` adapted to,'automatically o-scillate in, synchronism with the reciprocation of 'saiddie to'gagethe amount of material fed to the die prior to each cuttingstroke thereof, and means .whereby -said latter means may be adjustedhorizontally toward and from the die to provide for cutting differentsize blanks.

In an apparatus of the kind described in combination, a die adapted tocut blanks` from a sheet'of material, means for reciprocating said die,

of said die and adapted to automatically osspaced subaccuratelymeansdisposed to the rear s cillate in synchronism with thereciprocation of said die and engaging the blanks to gage the amountofmaterial fed to the die rior to each cutting stro-ke thereof and toaline the material in position to be cut, and means whereby said lastmeans may be Vertically .adjusted to provide for diierent thicknesses ofblanks.

5. In an apparatus' of the kind described in combination, a bed tosupport material to be cutand blanks cut therefrom, a driving shaft, acutting die ladapted to be reciprocated by said shaft, means forintercepting the progress of b-lanks along said bed, said means beingdisposed to the rear of said die and adapted for horizontal and verticaladjustment, and mechanism actuated by said shaft for intermittingly vdisposing said means in an intercepting position.

6. vAn apparatus of the kind described in combination, a bed to supportymaterial to lfor. reciprocating said die,

4 along said bed,

"ting stroke. is accurately be cut and blanks cut therefrom, agang diecomprising a series of cutting edges providing. adjoining blank cavitieshaving substantially straight parallel sides and a stationary strippermember having spaced fingers adapted to enter the blank cavities of thedie when the die is lowered, means and means disposed to the rear ofsaid die and adapted to automatically oscillate in synchronism with thereciprocation of said die t0 intermittingly intercept the progresservblanks whereby the amount of material fed beneath the die priorA toeach cutlimited to la uniform quantity.

7. In an apparatus of the kind described, means for cutting a verselyinto series of blanks adjoining each other at all points, andmeans-automatically operated in synchroni'sm with the cutting" means forengaging a series of said blanks to gage the amount of material to befed,

and roperly aline it transversely.

8. n an apparatus of the kind described,

means for cutting a sheet of material into l scribed, a may be advanced,an intermittently7 operat- `automatic gage means for determining theYsheet of material trans-V strips parallel toits length, means operatemeans for intermittently engaging the blocks to gagethe amount ofmaterial-fed.

9. In an apparatus vof thecharacter dei bedacross which the material ingblank cutting die cooperating, therewith having front and side cuttingedges and an open rear edge, whereby as the material is advanced thefront cutting edge simultane ously forms the rear side of a precedingblank and the front of a succeeding one, and

operating in synchronism with the die length of feed of the material.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, a bed across which thematerial'may be advanced, Aan intermittently operating blank cutting diecooperating therewith having parallel'cutting edges in the direction oftravel of the material, a transverse kcutting edge connectinotheparallel edgesA at one end, the other en s being open wherescribed, abed across which the material may be advanced, an intermittentlyoperating blank cutting diel cooperating therewith .having parallelcutting edges in the direction o travel of the material, a transversecutting edge connecting the parallel edges at one end, the other endsjbeing open whereby as the material is advanced the transverse cuttingedge simultaneously forms adjacent sides of two blanks, extendingthrough' said open side during the initial retracting movement of thedie.

'Signed at New York city, this 17th day of December, 1917.'

.WILLIAM J. KENT.

advanced the transverse cutting edge simultaneously Jforms adand astripper

